EXCLUSIVE FEATURE: Wicked World Prepare to Enter The Void [SINGLE/2017]
Artist: Wicked World
Single Feature: “Void”
Inside every man and woman there is a pit—not your stomach or your intestines, certainly nothing physiological—but a black hole defined by emotional emptiness and immense self-loathing. Every ounce of praise and pleasure finds its way into this gaping mass, swallowed and rendered pointless; and we spend our whole lives finding ways to try and fill it. Some turn to crime, while others dedicate themselves to a life of love, benevolence and kindness. Every man and woman that walk the earth are here just to find something to quench that thirst—to placate and satiate that yearning for something greater. On their latest single, however, midwestern deathcore outfit Wicked World strike out with resounding ruthlessness and incessant intensity with their one inconsolable truth—the void can’t be filled, it can only consume everything it touches. Combining punchy, beatdown-friendly and almost-slamming aggression with touches of riff-laden melodic death metal and their signature spice derived from dense blackening and dreary sludge, Wicked World are back and better than ever. “Void,” the group’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Witch Hunt EP, is an all-consuming, godless and gut wrenching display of devastating depravity. With grisly heaviness and enough eerie atmosphere to catch the listener off guard (and a music video to match), “Void” stands as one of the band’s best songs to date.
Exploding into the listener’s eardrums like the opening sequence of an Expendables film, “Void” begins like a bat out of hell. Lacerating blast beats serve as a foundation for scathing riffs and bold, brutalizing bass grooves that meld together and oscillate hither and to between two-step friendly segments and bouncy breakdowns—until the song reaches approximately its midway point. Suddenly, like a sharp knife slicing through warmed butter, the heaviness gives way and “Void” opens into a melodic, atmospheric interlude led by a soaring lead and mellow percussion. Just as the listener acclimates to the hazy ethereality, “Void” takes a turn for the hellish, lead by frontman Alex Miller. Miller’s gritty growls and rough mid-range yells dominate the closing portion of “Void,” which is—essentially—ninety seconds of pure mosh. While Miller’s vocals show improved intensity and incredible energy during the song’s opening onslaught, it’s during the closing segments—assisted by Michael Klocke of Wits End—that the vocals truly define the song. As soon as Miller roars “deeper down, deeper deeper deeper down,” the listener knows they’re in for a truly unholy climax to a crushing and monstrous display of deathcore prowess.
As a stand-alone track, “Void” is practically perfect—as it displays Wicked World’s ferocious heaviness and penchant for blackened atmosphere both, all the while showcasing maturation and masterful songwriting, creating a vibe that even the strongest tracks from their previous releases could only hint at. While it’s true that we’re all looking for something to fill an emptiness inside of us, it isn’t inherently true that it cannot be done—because for heavy music fanatics, Wicked World’s latest single might do just that.
5/5
For Fans Of: Dying Fetus, Malevolence, Whitechapel, Killwhitneydead (but with fewer movie samples)
By: Connor Welsh
